Jon Farrington
@jonfarrington.bsky.social
Engineer, oyster farmer, Chesapeake Bay
Tom Nichols on Trump: “This is really dangerous because there is no one around him to say: ‘This isn’t true’ or ‘That’s a bad idea’ or ‘Maybe we should talk about it some more’. He now has become completely wrapped up in his own power…” @radiofreetom.bsky.social
Fair question! I use the periods to avoid slandering the Alberts, Albertos, and Alfredos of the world. I use a lower case "i" to devalue the industry's claim of "intelligence," because "A.i." is not sentient. And I add the quotes because the whole thing is an inaccurate, bogus marketing term.
Rebecca R Helm@rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 51m agoCurious: why do you type “A.i.” with the quotes and cases?
El-Sayed: "Once a government agency like ICE is told it has impunity to do the worst things and violate the highest law of the land, which is the Constitution itself, I don't think you can reform or retrain. I think we need to start from scratch ... I think we need to abolish it."
This guy never served. He faked an injury to avoid the draft. None of his children have served. He called those who did serve their country "suckers and losers." He skipped the centenary memorial for servicemen who died in WWI because it was drizzling. This is more than usually repellent.
Taxpayers are paying $1.6 million per day for a pointless military occupation of the nation’s capital. “The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Wednesday the National Guard will remain deployed in Washington, D.C., through Inauguration Day 2029.”
National Guard continuing DC deployment through Inauguration '29
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Wednesday the National Guard will remain deployed in Washington, D.C., through Inauguration Day 2029. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials have been ag...
nbcwashington.com
“The extension of the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. until January 2029 will cost roughly $1.4 billion, according to a Defense Department estimate provided to Congress.“ This is insane. You can’t walk four blocks without running into a group of them standing around and doing nothing.
Guard deployment to Washington into 2029 will cost roughly $1.4B, estimate shows
The extension of the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. until January 2029 will cost roughly $1.4 billion, according to a Defense Department estimate provided to Congress. The figure offers...
nbcwashington.com
😮 Trump's nominees are the most pathetic men in the world 😮 During a hearing, Blumenthal made Trump nominees squirm by asking them who won the 2020 election -- a question they refuse to answer -- but then Schiff upped the ante by asking them *who won the 2016 election.* Here's a supercut:
😮 Trump's nominees are the most pathetic men in the world 😮
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
youtube.com
BREAKING: The New Mexico Department of Justice has sued Acting AG Todd Blanche and the DOJ, requesting the court for access to unredacted Epstein-related investigative files that the DOJ has been withholding.
Mike Johnson tells Politico that he's standing behind Republican Max Miller — despite the "serious" domestic abuse allegations against him.
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 8h agoReuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be unlikely to risk transit without paying."
Breaking News! Code: Bonkers! El Nino continues to spike towards an all-time record high anomaly, with the Nino 3.4 sea surface temperature more than 2.6°C above the 1991-2020 baseline as of August 4th, and more than 1.0C° above the previous August 4th record set in 1997.
Former J6 federal prosecutors are begging senators -- mostly GOPers, but a handful of Dems are in there, too -- to stop confirming election deniers to lifetime federal courts seats. “Please stop poisoning our courts." www.huffpost.com/entry/live-u...
Former J6 Prosecutors Beg Senators To Stop Confirming Election Deniers To Court Seats
huffpost.com
Sunrise reveals a Pacific Northwest overwhelmed with wildfire smoke. Combined with rising temperatures in the region, any outdoor activities should be limited as much as possible. weather.gov
if establishment candidates want to start winning primaries again all you have to do is say that rich people have too much money and that youll prosecute trump admin staffers and republicans that have broken the law
El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
It's funny that Jeanine Pirro brought a box of evidence to WH to persuade Trump. He wants her to consciously *throw out* exculpatory facts and *knowingly* prosecute innocent people. So facts can't persuade him by definition. Me and @barbmcquade.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/2139...
🤯 Rep. Max Miller's interview with Jake Tapper was one of the most self-destructive things I've ever witnessed on cable news. Here's the whole thing:
🤯 Max Miller's interview with Tapper is an utter trainwreck 🤯
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
youtube.com
Unbelievable air quality readings of 1000-3000 around Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and Plain, as of 11:50 AM in Chelan County, WA. At this point, smoke is like fog. This level of smoke is hazardous to all, for any length of time outside. #wawx #smoke #wildfires
ABC has picked it up now. "Capital One says it closed hundreds of Trump's bank accounts in 2021 'for anti-money laundering reasons'"
Capital One says it closed hundreds of Trump's bank accounts in 2021 'for anti-money laundering reasons'
Capital One says it closed hundreds of accounts associated with President Trump and his businesses in 2021 "for anti-money laundering reasons," according to a filing.
abcnews.com
Yep. Earlier this year I was interviewed by Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes about my Epstein investigation. Subsequently, CBS pulled the segment and fired the reporter. The MAGA buyout of media is aiding the Trump administration’s Epstein cover up.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · yesterdayBanks permitted millions in suspicious transactions tied to Epstein—and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had the story months ago. But the report would never air. trib.al/ZShZlIS
This “deal” sure sounds like articles of surrender in which Trump’s totally gratuitous and appallingly costly war of aggression will formally and officially have strengthened Iran and weakened the US - an unmitigated debacle by every measure. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
An Emerging Deal Between Iran and Oman to Reopen Hormuz Would Come at a Cost for Trump
The deal would address President Trump’s most urgent political problem by allowing ships to move again. But it would give Iran strategic leverage it did not have before the war.
nytimes.com
We disgrace ourselves as a nation each and every day Donald Trump remains in office. The drafters of the United States Constitution provided a remedy for a criminally insane president like the one we have—impeachment and removal ...
But five minutes ago they were desperate to make a deal, weren't they? I can't keep up.
Trump's line of BS today is that he's actively negotiating a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz, which is controlled by the United States
Another day where the president & other national Republicans get to sh*t on cities/urban voters & we have <exactly none> of the National Conversations™️ about Civility, Tone, Respect for/Reaching out to Real Folkz, or the GOP’s problem of not offering enough Moderate Solutions on Kitchen Table Issues
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoTrump: "Look at the blue cities. What do they have in common? They're all dirty. They're filthy dirty. Their streets are dirty. Their streets smell. Their storefronts are broken. Their trees are all gross. Everything about the place is dirty. It's really all of them."
This administration blatantly lied and falsely charged someone to try to manufacture that lie, and its a pattern they rinse and repeat over and over and over www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Trump administration drops Reflecting Pool case, blaming damage on ‘botched’ installation
The Justice Department said “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.”
nbcnews.com
He cites users' ability to mute & block folks as a positive, which is good. It's also why right wing chuds thankfully can't get a foothold here - b/c they violate community norms & get nuclear blocked out of normal people's timelines. Bluesky isn't a *liberal* bubble - it's a *decency* bubble.
The Verge@theverge.com · 2d agoBluesky's new CEO Toni Schneider on the platform's reputation for being a liberal bubble: "Yes, we definitely want that to change. It is already changing. It certainly wasn’t designed to attract one specific group of people."
The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.
Capital One says it closed Trump Organization's accounts after anti-money laundering probe
The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.
reut.rs
